musings from a mom

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When I was 28

When I was 28 years old, I was living with my sister and her family and working at a bookstore in a mall and finishing up a college degree. When I wasn’t working or going to school, I was helping my sister and brother-in-law with their young daughters, driving them to school and back home, making dinner occasionally, grocery shopping. I was a late bloomer, and wouldn’t have exactly called myself “very mature” at that point. I was still figuring myself out at 28. I was still somewhat financially dependent on various family members. I still fought with my sister occasionally, and would call my mother to mediate. I wasn’t terribly immature then, but even I knew I had some growing up to do. I could not have led a country at that point.
These days, Prince Harry is 28. So is Kelly Osbourne. Katy Perry, Haylie Duff, Scarlett Johansen and Ashlee Simpson are all 28. All fun-loving young people who still like to have a good time. Of all of them, Prince Harry is possibly the most well-versed in politics, but I’m sure most of Britain would be fairly uneasy if he were leading the UK right now. I think they would be planning a coup if they thought he was in charge of ANYthing that had to do with nuclear power.
Kim Jong-un of North Korea is 28 years old or thereabout, depending on which source you read, and he is in charge of that country and he is moving nuclear missles into place and warning the US that it should take that action as a very “grave” warning. He is the world’s youngest head of state. According to various stories, he was a poor student and had poor attendance while attending school in Switzerland or wherever he went to school. Those who knew him in school said he was shy and awkward with girls and indifferent to politics. He admittedly likes to party and drink all night. He has imported state of the art sauna equipment because a good sauna helps with hangovers and fatigue. His father thought he would be a good leader because he was a “big drinker and never admits defeat”. Amazingly, an older brother was knocked out of the running of heir to the country because he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport because he wanted to go to Tokyo Disneyland. Reportedly, the men who his father left in place to advise Kim Jong-un have “disappeared” or at least are no longer in power, and haven’t been seen in public for a while.
Now, in my opinion, being a big drinker and never admitting defeat isn’t always a good combination when looking at the character of a person and they aren’t qualities I would look for when choosing a leader. And I was also shy in school and was fairly awkward with everyone which were direct symptoms of low self-esteem and zero confidence. And I actually drank – lots sometimes – to try to overcome that shyness and those awkward feelings. And when I drank lots, I acted really stupid and did really stupid stuff. And 28 year old guys who are shy and awkward, possibly not very intelligent, and who are big drinkers shouldn’t necessarily be in charge of a country and in charge of that country’s nuclear missles and plants. Because guys who are that young and possibly that immature, who have surrounded themselves with “yes” men, and who want to posture to the world, sometimes want to prove to others that they’re tougher than the rest and more powerful than the rest. Throw the nuclear power privileges in there and we have a problem on our hands. Picture a guy or a bunch of guys, drunk on the Strip in Vegas, a bunch of blowhards with inflated egos, bragging about how tough they are to another group of guys, and then tell those drunks they can prove their toughness with the ability to fire some nuclear missles and that picture gets really scary.
Wouldn’t it be a shame, a real shame, if a nuclear war was started by some really young, really immature guy, who wasn’t thinking clearly because he got very drunk again trying to cure a bad hangover that was a result from getting so drunk trying to show off in front of his friends?